improv
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of improv
By shortening
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Half a lifetime ago, Hunt was a die-hard Chicago Bears fan working in residence with an improv group at a small, aging theater in Amsterdam when he got swept up in Dutch soccer culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Trust in science has plummeted—and Alan Alda thinks improv can turn the tide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
There’s not a lot of improv in the show, but we would all just joke around and say it to each other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
It was part of an improv exercise aimed at helping scientists amp up their presentations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
She picks up a folder, looks at it, and like an orator who decides to improv instead of using her notes, tosses the folder back onto her desk and asks, “Jade, what do you want?”
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
